


Music To My Ears

by Frosty007



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Asriel Dreemurr, Adult Frisk (Undertale), Female Frisk (Undertale), Gen, M/M, POV Second Person, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28144548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frosty007/pseuds/Frosty007
Summary: Perhaps you've been to this universe before, perhaps you havent (if you havent, go read A Life Less Ordinary by R0gue_66, I have them linked as the work that inspired this, now off with you, because this may not make much sense if you havent read that yet).If you're returning here, then you know that this is a story that has already been told, but what if I told you that Im here to flip the script a little bit? To see what happens if we take what was, then twist and turn it until we get whats below this box? That, my friend, is the beauty of it all.How would your story with Asriel and Frisk have turned out had you been somewhere else? Had you been /someone/ else, dear reader? Well, thats what you're here to find out now isnt it, my fellow devil's advocate?Let the show begin!
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asriel Dreemurr/Frisk, Asriel Dreemurr/Reader
Comments: 28
Kudos: 24





	1. Rain

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Life Less Ordinary](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6962110) by [R0gue_66](https://archiveofourown.org/users/R0gue_66/pseuds/R0gue_66). 



You never used to mind the rain as a kid. In fact, you often revelled in the moment when you found out there was going to be a storm. The more lightning and the harder the rain fell, the better. However, even back then in those simpler days, you still acknowledged that having rain after a snow storm tended to ruin both; something about the slush that was created when the two mixed was just disappointing to you, depressing even. However that’s what was happening now.

You were supposed to be getting ready for work right now, yet you found yourself staring out the window, watching as the raindrops slowly eroded whatever snow remained on the ground. The water acted as a catalyst where snow once met earth, resulting in the three mixing into that muddy slush you had grown to despise since a rather young age. It wasn’t nice to look at, it didn’t feel or sound nice to step in, and you didn’t need to cover the other two senses to know that it probably didn’t measure up there either.

 _You and I aren’t so different_ , you thought with a resigned chuckle that quickly faded back into a neutral, perhaps even disheartened expression. You didn’t know why you had told yourself that, if you were being honest. _Maybe I should get ready for work before I’m late._

It took a bit to get the gears turning once you got up, but once you had worked the morning rust out of your brain, you prepared for the coming day like a well oiled machine. Took as brief of a shower as you could manage, put on your uniform which still didn’t feel like it fit quite right, and put a black jacket which bore the logo of your favorite musical artist over that for the journey before you left.

The moment you stepped outside you could feel the blood flow away from your hands as they overreacted to the sudden above-freezing, but still relatively close temperatures in an exemplary display of Raynaud’s Phenomenon. That, however, had been routine since Winter had started back in December and partially throughout the Autumn before that. The cold sensation and numbness didn’t particularly bother you when you were outside, but the knowledge that you’d have to deal with it through a quarter of your shift at the least did irritate you. You didn’t break stride.

•《○》•

You finish walking to the sandwich shop you worked at in a timely manner. At first, as you unlocked the front door, you thought you had actually managed to weave around all of the slush and snowmelt in your path, however that was swiftly proven wrong by the resounding squeak that the bottom of your shoe made upon contact with the tile floor within the shop. Luckily, it seemed that you were the only one around to hear it. Feeling ready enough to start your shift, you walk the rest of the way in, allowing the door to slowly close behind you.

Overall, the first few hours of your shift were slow. On the one hand, you were happy about it, as the last couple hours had proven that your coworkers weren’t going to show up- not today, at least. However, on the other hand, it caused the hours to crawl by the slowest you felt they ever have since the first week or so you had spent working here before the monotony had set in. As per usual, business sped up a bit around noon as many of the people who lived in town needed a place to get lunch, however that rush slowed back to a usual pace by around an hour later. However, when the following hour rolled around, something new happened. Something… peculiar…

First of all, you noticed that the number of human customers who were coming into the shop over time decreased drastically. Normally, you’d dismiss this without a second thought, as this is what usually happened around these parts when a monster had entered the general area, and vice versa with humans. However, this time, all human presence in the area seemed to clear out to the point where you couldn’t even see anyone walking by the shop windows outside anymore. Even you had to admit that the sight, or lack thereof, was eerie at best.

For what felt like forever, you watched the glass door, trying to see if you could figure out which of the monsters who were now passing through it was that had caused this much of a disturbance with their presence, however at no point were you able to see anyone who particularly stood out. Eventually, you came to the conclusion that your time would be better spent cleaning the place up, seeing as how your shift technically ended in an hour or so and, soon, you would have to close up anyway; considering the unique circumstances that had presented themselves, you knew the chances that any more customers would enter the store at this point was low, which was why you were packing up so early. The local monsters who frequented this stretch of town would avoid the place when they saw the only guy working there was a human and the humans who inhabited the area were avoiding whichever intimidating monster that so happened to have wandered nearby.

You had your back turned to the door when it finally opened. You had been just about to dispose of one of the bins of a plant-based ingredient when it happened. Luckily, you hadn’t yet tipped the bin over, allowing you to save it, for a time, before it tumbled to its inevitable doom. _You may have use yet, leafy green…_ You thought to yourself, snickering quietly to yourself at the thought before the voice of that who had entered sounded behind you.

“Howdy!

You thought you recognized the voice, though you couldn’t put your finger on exactly who it belonged to. An old high school friend, maybe? No… his tone was too warm and friendly to be someone you knew personally and last you recalled, no one from your hometown used that particular piece of diction to greet people. You almost didn’t want to turn around, feeling the urge to keep guessing to yourself until you either got it right or expired, whichever came first, rise within you. However, you knew you had a job to do, so you turned to face the source of the voice. The figure that your eyes found themselves rested on was that of a goat monster, however the part of him that would really unlock the memory of his identity in your head would be his eyes, which held a bizarre inverted appearance, his sclera being black with a white iris. They held this mysterious sense of mischief to them that was familiar to you, even though you had never seen it in person before. He wore a pair of black slacks and an olive green dress shirt that was mostly obscured by the warm gray vest he wore over it. Two black symmetrical stripes seemed burned into his face. Knowing the state of this town, no wonder everyone cleared out so quickly... This was none other than Asriel Dreemurr, the prince of all monsters.

Within a few moments, you would recall hearing about the ambassador work that he and his adoptive sibling Frisk had been doing as of late, traveling from place to place trying to bridge the gap of understanding between humans and monsters. While Frisk had done a lot to help that in the first couple years following the monsters’ liberation from the enormous cavernous space beneath Mt. Ebott, there was still much to be done when it came to the true integration of monsters into overground society, as was evident by the very town the two of you resided in now. You remembered admiring that goal when you had first heard it, though you had been uncertain about how realistic it was at the time. Regardless, it was a noble cause that you found you supported immediately following when it had been announced. 

It appeared that Asriel had taken notice of the surprise in your expression and how quick you had been to hide it.

“Don’t worry yourself, human- I’m used to getting that response at this point.” He would say to you calmly, likely trying to calm your nerves so you didn’t mess up whatever he was about to order. You noticed at this point that, despite his vocal demeanor, the prince seemed to be quite stressed about something, giving you the suspicion that he had already been in town for a couple days by now. Feeling a little stupid now that you had allowed yourself to seem so caught off guard, you answered.

“Of course- what can I get you…?” Your voice stammered a bit, making your still present nerves more audible than you would’ve liked them to be, however your tone overall remained polite. It seemed that now was your turn to surprise Asriel, as was made apparent by his own expression. You weren’t sure exactly what about what you had said evoked such a reaction from him, though it seemed you would never know, as he didn’t make mention of it when he answered your question.

“A... BLT will do, thank you- Hold the tomato, though.” He laughed a bit.

You nod and, without uttering a word, begin to make the sandwich he requested, not wanting to offer disappointing service to him, especially considering this would be his first impression of the place.

“You don’t need to break any world records here.” He joked, causing your face to flush a bit as he let out a lighthearted chuckle. “Really, there’s no rush.” The goat monster added quickly, his voice giving off a more serious air without sacrificing any of its warmth to do so, as he had likely noticed the effect that his prior words had had on you. You weren’t sure how he had managed to do that with his tone, but at the same time didn’t question it. That combination of kindness and assertiveness was completely alien to you.

Considering that fact, you honestly didn’t really know how to respond to it, so you didn’t. You remained silent as you continued working, however you did heed Asriel’s request for you to slow down a bit. However, you couldn’t leave him totally hanging, so you decided to strike up a conversation that was unrelated to sandwiches.

“So… how has your ambassador work been going lately…? Oh- and I almost forgot- What kind of bread would you like?”

An almost disheartened look came over him for a moment before he smiled again.

“Not as well as I would like it to in this area in particular, but I'm sure I’ll make some meaningful progress sometime soon!” The prince answered optimistically before moving on to your second, more on-topic question. “Whole wheat, please.”

You nodded, taking a moment to gather said bread and finish making his sandwich.

“So… your sibling, Frisk, if I recall correctly… Is she not here with you…?” You would ask, the implication from Asriel’s previous statement pointing toward that conclusion.

“The place we were at before still had loose ends to tie up by the time we were scheduled to move here. However, this town was considered a high priority location, so the executive decision was made to split us up so that we could cover more ground. But she should be here in a couple weeks. I’ll be grateful for her help, honestly.”

You would give Asriel a look of sympathy when you heard that admission. You had an idea at just how hard it could be to change the minds of the people in this town.

“It’s definitely a tough case here, but Im sure if anyone can do it, you can, right?”

By the time the both of you got to that point in the conversation, you had finished making his sandwich. After he had payed for what you presumed to be the price you had told him, you handed him his prize which you had wrapped in a multi-layered paper wrapper which bore the shop’s logo on it in a repeating pattern.

“Thank you... uh-” Asriel would glance briefly down at the upper half of your shirt, his expression narrowing as he seemed to search for something. You wondered for a moment what the caprine monster was doing, however that wonder was dispelled by how he finished his statement, which was spoken momentarily after his smile returned to his face and his eyes met yours again.. “..._______! For both the sandwich and the conversation.”

Of course, he had been reading your name tag. You had nearly forgotten it was there due to how underused it was. In fact, now that you thought about it, Asriel may be the first to have ever payed it any mind.

“Well, you payed for the sandwich, so no need to thank me for that-”

“Thank you anyway. Many of the other human vendors in the area were too afraid to give me a similar courtesy. So, I guess I’m thanking you for being one of the few and far between friendly faces in this town rather than the sandwich itself.” The goat monster clarified, seeming to be getting ready to leave at this point.

“In that case, you’re very welcome, Prince Asriel.” You would answer, beginning to understand why he had been so surprised toward the beginning of your conversation; he had been expecting you to be too afraid to allow him to pay for the shop’s services in the first place.

“You can just call me Asriel.” He would answer, turning back to face you as he headed for the door. “The prince title always makes me nervous.” The goat monster would add with, well, a nervous chuckle.

On that note, he once again turned back to face the door, walking back out and presumably to his car, wherever that may be, waving to you as the door closed behind him, leaving you alone once again in what you discovered to now be deafening silence. Your eyes followed after him for a few minutes before you eventually tore your gaze away and took a moment to look down at the money he had given you to pay for his sandwich. You hadn’t noticed previously, but you could see now that he had given you about twice the money needed to pay for his sandwich. _I’ll have to give it back to him if I see him again._

You were vaguely aware of the fact that it was no longer raining.

_If..._

You dwelled on that possibility for a moment before you began to pack up your things and cycle the no longer fresh ingredients out of the shop's stock. What if you _didn't_ see him again? What if your only proof that he had ever spoken to you was the extra seven or so dollars that he had accidentally given you?

You grabbed your jacket just before your cleanup cycle made it back to the register, and, when it did, your eyes found themselves back on that reminder once again. You put the half of it that had payed for the sandwich in the register, the contents of which you would have to count before you left. You put the other in your jacket pocket, knowing all too well that, if you left it in the store, it would wind up either in the register with the rest or in one of your coworker's pockets before your next shift had a chance to begin.

With that out of the way, you set to counting the money that was in the register. Given the slow day you had, it didnt take long. You knew your manager probably wouldn't be a fan of that, but right now, you were happy that your remaining time here was shorter than it would ordinarily be.

When you finished, you recorded the amount made that day and stored the money in the safe that resided in the back room, where it would be collected on sunday after the early closure that happened on that day.

With all of your duties now complete, you let out a short sigh of relief, more than ready, at this point, to be done with work today. Wasting no time, already having your things gathered, you moved to the door with a quickness about you. You flipped to sign on the door so that it displayed its, "closed," face before opening the door it hung on, stepping out.

Just as you were about to begin the journey home, you heard a disgruntled sigh from your left. Turning to see what the ruckus was about, you saw a male human, dressed appropriately for the weather earlier today in a yellow raincoat. He was watching you. It seemed that he had noticed you in your outside attire and realized that the shop must be closed for the day. However, you held no sympathy for him as you turned around to start your walk to your apartment. You knew exactly why he had missed the window of time in which the place had open.

 _You reap what you sow._ You thought to yourself with bitter indifference as you left him and his frustration far behind you.

The remainder of your venture home, your conscious was distracted. Your brain seemed to be too loud yet eerily quiet at the same time, as if it was uncertain of what to make of the day's events. It wouldn’t stop replaying that final interaction you had before you closed up shop. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since it had happened and you already couldn’t differentiate the memory of it from one of reality or one of a dream. You took a moment to ponder the situation. The prince of all monsters going to the sandwich place _you_ worked at in the town _you_ lived in and then spoke to _you._ No one could blame you for thinking of it as an incredibly surreal experience. As you opened the door to your apartment, you decided that only time could tell you whether or not any of that had truly happened or not. For now, you had to force the train of thought to the back of your mind, as you had to attend your online psychology class now, and such a distraction would surely do nothing but hinder you.

You opened your laptop and turned it on, settling down into your beat up office chair ready to tackle what today’s lecture would throw at you. Turned out the subject matter for today was the irrational thought patterns that occurred in the brain and the likely reasons why they occurred. Things that would be brought up were subjects such as phobias, the backfire effect, and the like & strike. Given your immense interest in psychology as a whole, you found that you absorbed the information readily.

After class was over, you found that you had the time to eat and quite a bit of free time before you would have to turn in for the night. So, for dinner, you would eat a small, easily prepared meal, not having the mental energy nor the money reserves to make anything more grand than that. You got through that food quicker than you had initially thought, as you would come to find. At that point, you decided, not having anything better to do, that you would finish the homework that was due in a couple days, given that today was Friday and you wouldn’t have class until the following Monday.

By the time you were done with that, night had long since fallen, considering that it fell rather early in the Winter. Despite that, it was still late enough that you would prepare to go to bed. You took care of your nightly rituals with a swiftness before heading to bed… or rather, to couch, in your case, as you had your whole life up until this point. It was only then, in the near silence of your apartment with nothing else to occupy your mind with that your train of thought from when you had come home earlier returned to the rails at full speed ahead.

If you hadn’t had a bizarre fever dream, why did the prince open up to you so readily like that? The idea of someone being so unguarded was foreign to you. Maybe he just really needed to vent and you were the only person around? For a moment, you imagined venting about your everyday stress to a complete stranger. The thought made you shudder.

You weren’t sure why, but regardless of why he had done it, you sincerely hoped with whatever hope you had to spare that your meeting with Asriel hadn’t been a mere figment of your imagination. You hoped with all your heart that it had all been as real as the muddy slush that had soured your mood just that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! If you've made it here, thanks for reading! Or skimming through, whichever you did, though Im not sure who would skim through a chapter just to read the notes, but Im sure you exist somewhere!
> 
> Anyway, this is my first time writing a work intended to be this long, so please bare with me if I dont follow a strict schedule with my posting like with what R0gue did every week. Also, sorry that this chapter is shorter than the average ALLO chapter, but I've never written in a chapter format and wow is it a lot of work to type a proper length chapter, especially when the whole jist of your first chapter happens in one scene rather than spread out through a couple.
> 
> Feel free to critique this and R0gue, it you see this, do tell me how I did writing Asriel here! Im a bit self-conscious over how I wrote his character in this chapter, because I have nothing to compare it too in ALLO since the starting circumstances are so different in this one. I hope you, out of anyone, enjoy it!


	2. The Dream Isn't Done

The weekend had passed you by like any other, with not much going on that was different from your usual weekday schedule. You had an off day from everything on Saturday, which you had spent wisely in your apartment doing nothing productive, minus the occasional errand, followed by work Sunday. The day had meant that you had a shortened shift that ended up not being too busy, so it hadn’t been too bad. That Sunday had shown no sign of the prince, and so far, today had gone similarly. The only difference between now and last Friday, really, was the weather as well as the presence of your male coworker, which you appreciated, considering it was also busier.

The walk to work today had been a lot less drenching due to the lack of the rain that had been present Friday, however the frigid air that had moved in following that storm felt as though it had creeped even deeper into your very soul through your rather thin sweatshirt every moment you were outside, though there wasn’t need nor time to dwell on that, as you were now sheltered in the artificially heated embrace of the shop you worked at and, well, speaking of work, you had a job to do.

And work you did. As you went on you would begin to notice something… different in the attitudes of the people and monsters who passed in and around the shop. It was subtle, to the point where you figured it was one of those infinitesimal shifts in atmosphere that only the subconscious mind was capable of truly picking up, as you couldn’t put your finger on exactly what had changed, but it didn’t seem negative... or so you hoped at least.

You would continue to observe the micro-populations of humans and monsters as they passed by in loose groups of their own kind, now thoroughly interested in trying to deduce what was going on, however you never really saw anything that stuck out enough to properly identify. Luckily, your job didn’t take much thought, meaning you weren’t likely to make mistakes so long as you didn’t let this makeshift observational study steal away your attention in the middle of a sale, which would be quite a feat, should it occur, considering how interacting with strangers piqued your anxiety as it did. Even if experience had softened that edge, or perhaps hardened your skin, the creeping fear of messing up and being judged as a result of it forced your attention to cling to every word until words were no longer being spoken.

Then, the door opened. It had, obviously, opened many times today, so this on its own didn’t really mean anything. In fact, you were hardly aware that it had happened beyond how the sound it made immediately signaled to your brain, like a command to a computer, to prepare to serve another customer after the one you had just finished serving now, a human woman wearing a large winter coat with a fur-lined hood who stood between you and the door, effectively blocking your view of whomever had just entered. As she begins to walk away, you turn your attention to the register to put the cash that she had given you for her sandwich and coffee inside.

 _We don’t usually manage to sell much coffee this long after morning, but… whatever it takes to keep warm, I guess… even though you have that massive coat on._ You would judge her silently to yourself, not daring to speak those words aloud, at least, while she was still in the room anyway. Though you didn’t entirely care what others did if it wasn’t hurting anyone, and as such, the judgement you had passed in the moment slipped straight back out of your mind.

You didn’t have time to look back up before you heard the characteristic footsteps generated by the woman’s boots quicken as she apologized profusely to someone else in the room. There was awkward silence for a moment as the woman hurried to leave, the sound of frantic paper crinkling emanating from the rough direction of the door as she, as far as you could tell anyway, fumbled the bag you had given her while she retreated. Then there was silence again, this time much shorter.

Following a short sigh, a familiar voice broke the quiet, melting the tension in the air like hot water to ice. “Well… I suppose that _is_ an improvement.”

It was Asriel.

You let your surprise show a little too much for your own liking, your gaze snapping up before he could even finish his sentence. He smiled, noticing immediately.

“Happy to see me, eh?” He asked, still sounding fairly stressed. However, his undertone seemed… brighter? Perhaps he had noticed the change in atmosphere that you had over the past couple of days? If so, then maybe _he_ knew what it was... There was no more time to ponder the topic any longer as he spoke again, derailing your train of thought once more. If he did pick up on it, he made no mention. “At least, I hope you are. You’re kinda hard to read and, if I’m being honest, you look more shocked than anything.”

If that half hour last Friday really had somehow been a dream, it would seem that it wasn’t quite done with you yet.

“Y-Yes, of course I am-” You stammered out a bit faster than you had wanted to. Taking a moment to collect yourself, you notice he was wearing more casual apparel today, consisting of an unzipped sweatshirt that was lined on the inside with cotton, a relatively new looking graphic t-shirt with a pink and black design printed onto it that you didn’t quite recognize, and fairly standard beige pants. Having been successful at regaining proper composure, you take another shot at a response, assuming your usual formal tone that you commonly utilized when speaking to customers. “Anyway- sorry for that… display. What can I get you today?”

He almost seems disappointed for a moment, though you don’t have time to make up a reason before his expression fades back to that reassuring, yet resigned smile that he so often wore out of the limited time that you’ve been around him.

“Don’t worry about it, _______. That was still better than anything I’ve gotten from a human here so far.” Asriel chuckled. You assumed he was attempting to reassure you with his words. If so, it did work, but only marginally. “In any case, I think I’ll have… the usual.”

 _The usual_ You repeated in your head, laughing slightly yourself. Considering how he had only ordered here once, there was only one option as to what that meant, but you still found it funny how he declared it as if he was some sort of veteran to this particular sandwich shop. When he said your name, you weren’t sure if he had remembered it or if he had simply read your name tag again. Though logic told you it didn’t really matter, part of you still hoped that he had remembered it.

“Alrighty then.” You respond, his infectious grin having spread to you by now as you begin to prepare his food. ”So… how has your day been, Asriel…?” You then ask, hoping it didn’t sound as awkward to him as it did to you. If the goat monster heard it as you did, he didn’t say a word in regard to it.

“I decided to take a bit of a day off today. I figured that the excess stress making it that much easier to snap probably wouldn’t help me play mediator.” Asriel answered in a concise manner, though you could tell that he spoke genuinely. “That is to say, better than it likely could be, which I’m happy about!.”

You frowned for a moment. _He must not be having a very good time here… I don’t blame him, considering what I know about the people here._ You assessed to yourself. However, you weren't allowed to zone out for long since he repeated your question back to you.

“What about you, _______...? How was your day today?”

You think about that for a moment, deciding to do what he did earlier back to him.

“The usual.” You answer in the best deadpan you can manage. Asriel snickers, however, has a comeback ready for you without longer than a heartbeat of thought.

“I see what you’re trying to do there, buuuuuuuuut… I’ve never asked you that before, so there is no ‘usual’ for you.” He refutes your statement, his voice almost sounding smug, as if he was sure he had won this battle of wits that you supposed you were a part of now. “So let’s try this again! How was your day, _______?”

While you were touched that he seemed to genuinely care about how your day was, you couldn’t, in the moment, overcome a certain behavior that had been hard-wired into you over the course of your teenage years. The one that caused you to respond to questions such as the one Asriel had asked you with simple, short, and most importantly, neutral answers. Regardless of if they were truthful or not. It was an unhealthy defense mechanism, your studies so far made you certain of it, but it was nearly impossible to act against.

“It was alright.”

He frowned for a half second, seemingly not quite satisfied with your second answer, however he didn’t seem to be able to invalidate it this time, as was evident by his silence that followed. Seeing this change in expression in response to what you had said made your anxiety spike once again. Luckily you had already finished crafting his… B..L…?,because you were certain that you would have messed something up if you had been in the middle of it at this point. Then, Asriel speaks again, his grin returning.

“Welp… I guess you win.” He had surrendered. “By the way, how much does that sandwich cost again…?”

For a moment, you were about to tell him, but then you remembered something important.

“Oh! Before I forget-” You cut off, reaching into your right side pocket and pulling out the extra money he had given you Friday. “You accidentally gave me more than you needed to last week and I thought I’d-”

You cut off for a different reason this time, as Asriel had raised a closed paw to his mouth, seemingly fighting to not burst out laughing. You felt blood rush to your face as you wondered what you had said to earn this kind of response. You couldn’t help but think, despite knowing better, that he was making fun of you, however you couldn’t properly go on defense when you didn’t know him that well, so you remained quiet.

“Th- That was a tip, silly-” He managed to squeak out, trying to maintain his composure. However, his efforts would prove to be in vain when he saw the absolute bewilderment on your face, which seemed to be the drop of water that broke the dam, because that was when he, well, started actually laughing. You wondered against your better judgement if he had known that you would react this way ahead of time. If he had done this on purpose.

You shook that notion from your mind. The prince was capable of a lot of things, but future sight was not one of them… as far as you knew anyway. He hadn’t even known that you genuinely thought he had overpaid you until you told him as such. There was no malicious intent, you felt certain of it by now. However, this entire turn that the interaction had taken still left you feeling like you were walking on eggshells in your own mind. You leaned on the counter, head in your hands and elbows on the countertop.

“ _Who_ tips _fast food_ workers? Let alone _one hundred percent…_ ” You inquired quietly, mostly to yourself, in disbelief when you finally regained the ability to speak properly. Asriel seemed to have calmed down as well, because he answers your question in spite of its rhetorical nature, no longer interrupted by muscle spasms every other word.

“I suppose I do.... But only when I get really good service.”

For a couple of moments, you begin to ponder what exactly you had done to be labelled, “really good service,” however you didn’t have time to finish your thought before the goat monster continued. He seemed to be nearly an expert at interrupting your thoughts before they could turn too sour.

“Now. How much does that sandwich cost again? He repeated his earlier question as you hesitated to put what had apparently been a tip back into your pocket.

“Th-That’d be about…” You trail off, still on edge, typing the amount in so that it displayed on the small rectangular screen that extended off of the register, not turning your gaze back up at him. “That much-”

Asriel seemed to notice that you didn’t feel quite right when he heard you answer him, because his voice took on a sudden calming, apologetic tone the next time he spoke. He put what you presumed to be money to pay for the sandwich on the counter.

“Hey…” The warmth in his tone, whether it was really there or you had simply imagined it, melted away your anxiety. You looked up hesitantly, staring directly into his inverted eyes as he continued. “Sorry if I, uh, overwhelmed you- I guess I got a little too comfortable too fast.”

You could feel the corners of your mouth rising on their own as you were now at ease once more. You can’t recall if you’ve ever had your mood altered so drastically, and in such a positive way, by just a couple of sentences. But for whatever reason, it seemed Asriel could have that effect on you when he wanted to.

 _No wonder all of monsterkind and… most of humankind respect him._ You concluded to yourself.

“Thank you.” You would then answer softly.

For a few seconds, silence reigned in the room again. However, this time around, you found that this silence felt like the antithesis of what it had represented last time it had drowned out the conversation. This time around, you found that a wonderful sense of tranquility filled the room. You couldn’t stay like that forever, though, as you were working the register and he was your customer. Also, your shift ended soon, but luckily, your coworker would have to close since he was here today, so you could just go home. But, before you would be able to do any of that, you had to finish this transaction.

Snapping out of your daze, you count out the amount of money he gave you, placing the amount that paid for the sandwich in the register. “Okay, so, I owe you-” Asriel cut you off.

“That’s a tip too!”

“Asriel, I- I’m… thank you.... again.” Barely, you manage to prevent yourself from becoming a sputtering mess again, absolutely befuddled.

“No problem! Buy something nice for yourself with it if you can, okay?”

Nodding wordlessly, you stare at what was apparently the second tip that the prince had given you, feeling emotional enough to cry by now. You knew from experience that nothing would come of it, as nothing ever did, but the fact that the prince had brought you to that point was testament enough to how much the gesture had moved you. Instead of putting it away immediately, you pushed it over to the side, planning on taking it later after Asriel had left, opting to focus your attention on him for the time being. It was then that you realized just how much longer you had kept him here than he had likely intended on.

“I’m sorry for keeping you as long as I have, Asriel- Quite unprofessional of me.”

“Don’t worry about it, _______. Again, this is a day off for me, I don’t have anywhere to be.” He reassured you once again, doing better this time than he had before, given you couldn’t think of any way to disprove him. “Besides, I quite enjoyed our conversation. It was time well spent.”

Hearing that warmed you even further. For the first time in what felt like forever, you didn’t question the integrity of the compliment you had been given. Did you trust him to be honest about these things already or were you just in that good of a mood now? Either way, it was an achievement, to say the least, considering your track record with those two things as of late.

“I’m glad that I didn’t bore you to death.” You would answer, laughing to yourself under your breath.

“Absolutely not.” He answered, pulling his phone out briefly, presumably to check the time, before returning it to its place in his sweatshirt pocket.

By that time you had finished wrapping up his sandwich, its fate drawing closer and closer with every second that passed, the same end as the sandwich before it being that fate. You hold it out to Asriel.

“Here you go! I believe you’ve paid for this already.”

The hands, or rather paws, by which the BL would meet it’s inevitable demise finally had their claws on it. Soon enough, the sandwich would have its existence discontinued by the various mechanisms involved in the goat monster’s digestive system. You felt no remorse, knowing you were responsible for what would soon happen to it, for it was an inanimate object and that would be stupid.

“Thank you!” Asriel exclaimed, pausing for a moment as if there was more he was planning on saying. Soon enough, you would find that there was, in the form of a question. “So, uh- I was planning on going to the park to eat today, and I wanted to know if you’d like to join me?”

For a moment, you nearly agreed to his offer without thinking, however you managed to stop yourself before you made what would have been an empty promise.

“I feel like I’d enjoy that, but, unfortunately, I don’t have time today. My shift ends…” You take a moment to check the time. 3:54 PM. “...really soon actually, wow okay- and I have class after so, unlike you, I’m booked for the night.”

The prince seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, that’s fair… Do you have a day where your schedule is more open?” He asked inquisitively.

“I mean, Saturday is my day off, so then could work... Do you have a way that I could contact you when I’m not here?”

“Yeah! Can I see your phone real quick…?”

After a mere moment or two of hesitation, you unlock your phone, cautiously handing it over to Asriel. For the next 10 or so seconds, all you can hear is the sound of his claws tapping lightly on your phone’s screen. You had a feeling that you knew what he was doing based on the conversation that had preceded, but you’d have to wait to see if time confirmed your theory. Then, he gave it back to you.

“That should do the trick when it comes to discussing things.” He declared vaguely, going on to clarify in his next statement. “I put my info into your contacts so we can talk about details when we get closer to Saturday and have more accurate information on our availability.”

You nodded in understanding, inwardly satisfied that you had guessed correctly, though you would admit that being able to talk to Asriel on a whim was even more surreal than simply meeting him had been, and frankly still was. You wondered if he planned to cut off contact afterward or if this was a more permanent arrangement.

“Sounds like a plan, then! A plan for a plan, that is.” You confirmed that his idea would work for you.

“Great! I’ll see you soon, then, alright?” The goat monster asked, beginning to turn to the door, stopping halfway as he awaited your answer.

“If all goes according to the plan we end up making, then yes, you will.”

He nodded, finishing his 180 and started toward the door. As he opened it, he glanced back at you.

“See you later, _______!”

“Have a good rest of your day, Asriel!”

He gave you one last wave before he walked off in the direction of the park, the door ever so slowly closing behind him long after you lost line of sight.

Then, you heard a door open somewhere behind you, causing you to very suddenly remember that your coworker was still around. You hoped he hadn’t heard any of your conversation with Asriel. Luckily, what he asked you implied that he hadn’t, but what he ended up saying still caused your good mood to immediately drop back down to irritation.

“Is… Is he gone?” Your coworker asked, still relatively far behind you, considering the size of the shop, of course. Letting loose an exasperated sigh, you responded.

“Yes… the big scary goat is gone.”

Your choice of diction seemed to embarrass him a decent bit, though you weren’t sure exactly what about it had done so, however you couldn’t really say that you cared. You began gathering what limited things you still had lying around the shop, which was primarily just your sweatshirt, which had been in front of you anyway since the more tumultuous part of your conversation with Asriel when you had tried to return to him what had ended up being a tip. You snickered slightly. In hindsight, it was a _little_ funny. You noticed that your coworker had completely come out of hiding at this point.

Once you had your aforementioned sweatshirt on over your uniform, you glanced at the tip that you had just received from the goat prince today. You only kept your eyes on it momentarily before slowly putting it in your pocket with the other one. You go to the back of the shop in order to clock out before you head back to the front where the gateway between the workspace and the public space was. Glancing back at your coworker again when you stepped out from behind the counter, you would see that he was watching you now, his gaze portraying the millions of questions he probably had lined up in his head to ask you about Asriel. However, he restrained himself, likely knowing, you presumed anyway, that the chances of you snapping at him would increase exponentially with each question he asked. After a few seconds, you would turn your own gaze back to the door and step out into the still unrelenting cold.

You would use your walk home to continue your observations. It took time and a lot of distance walked, but you could’ve sworn that the physical distance between groups of traveling humans and monsters had... shortened slightly since you last cared to pay that detail enough mind to notice. You weren't able to objectively confirm this theory, given its nature, but it would explain the subtle change in social climate that you had just managed to pick up earlier and, if it were true, it was promising for what Asriel was and still is trying to do, as well as for the health of the community overall. It meant that the local humans and monsters were beginning to become less afraid of each other, and maybe even more curious too. It was a wonderful sign that things may finally be healing here. It was long overdue, if someone asked you.

However much you would have loved to continue your people watching, one, it was cold, and two, you had arrived at your apartment. The remainder of your night went as it had on Friday, starting with psychology classes, then a brief meal before you had to do homework for the aforementioned classes. However, this time around, you finished with a few hours to spare before you went to bed, which you took as an opportunity to relax, play video games, and listen to music, all of which you had such little time to do nowadays. When the time came to sleep, you found yourself once again on your sofa following the completion of your typical nightly rituals.

Then arose the second difference between tonight and Friday night: instead of thoughts of the past plaguing your mind as you tried to sleep, you were instead stalked by thoughts of the future. How would your… friendship…? with Asriel evolve over time? More importantly, how long would it be before you inevitably made the one fatal mistake that it would take to ruin everything? How would the situation in town evolve? Would it continue to improve or would something occur to shatter that dream of a better place? So many questions that would have no answers thanks to the machinations of time preventing the future from being truly predictable. And it would stay that way, that is, until said time itself came to pass and revealed the answers to all that one might inquire about now… while also creating more questions.

Deciding that was enough existentialism for tonight, you would now allow your thoughts to blend into a shade of gray characteristic of pre-unconsciousness brain fog that would slowly darken until sleep overtook you, sucking you through the portal to the land of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! If you've made it here once again, then thank you, well, again for reading/skimming through! I know I said previously that I wouldn't be keeping an upload schedule and, while that hasn't changed, I just think it's funny that I've written another chapter less than a week later. Oh, and thank you to everyone who supported the last chapter! I wasn't sure how it would be received and knowing that people like it is a huge relief -w-
> 
> In other, more chapter related news, this chapter was much like the first in that my opinion on it changed rather rapidly as I wrote it, but once again, I'm quite happy with the end result! I hope you all enjoy reading it.  
> Also, this chapter is about 700 words longer than the last and I didn't have to try to artificially extend it at all, which is exciting :D
> 
> Like last time, if you have any critique/advice for me for this chapter and future chapters, do tell me, as I am still quite new to this format of writing.


	3. I'm Still Having Nightmares

Today was Saturday. The week prior passed you by at an agonizing crawl. You could only imagine that it had because of your anticipation for today in which, if all had gone according to plan, you would be meeting up with Asriel at the park for lunch during your free time. You weren’t quite certain yet if your sudden snail-like perception of time had simply been due to Asriel being a break in the typical monotony of your life or if it had been because that was how much you genuinely wanted to see him again. But either way, you were excited.

You tried to hold back from forming any expectations, since the goat monster made it clear that the distinct possibility existed that he would be too busy to have the spare time to waste on you (your words, not his), but you hadn’t been able to help yourself. You would come to regret not listening to your logic this time around. The first text to be sent between you two came on Friday evening, telling you that his schedule would be rather densely packed the next day, which meant that he wouldn’t have the time to spare on a dedicated lunch period with you. This, given those expectations that you had formed against your better judgement, had left you crestfallen for the remainder of the time between then and now. While the last time you had spoken to him had merely been a couple of days prior to now when he came by the shop during the afternoon on Wednesday for a quick bite to eat, the only conversation between the two of you was a brief exchange of surface level pleasantries, so it didn’t count. You might as well have not spoken to each other at all considering how typical small talk bored the living daylights out of you more often than not.

Today went similarly to how your Saturdays almost always went, dull with your time spent not very productively on things such as listening to music and playing video games. The occasional errand or chore around your apartment were the only activities you partook in with intent to support your continued existence. While not much had changed in that regard, wording things that way only described the physical aspects of the day, carefully weaving around the much more tumultuous component of the experience: your emotions. It had been a long time since you had something to look forward to like you looked forward to spending however much time you would get with Asriel today. Maybe that was why you had so readily gotten your hopes up so high. Your brain had been so starved of any vibrant light in your future that the moment it saw even a dim flicker of something bright, it latched on.

By now, night had fallen on your would’ve-been wonderful day. You had begrudgingly left the sonic comfort of your phone and headphones to get over with what you had to do every night before you turned in for the night. You had work tomorrow, after all. Wasn’t that just great? The terrible cherry on top of this abhorrent sundae was that you had to wake to your alarm in the early hours of morning and spend the first half of your day in that sandwich joint. It was certain to be all the more mind numbing after the disaster that today had become, if you were being honest. You had to force yourself to stop, as just thinking about it was enough to drain your mental energy reserves to the point of exhaustion

You sat down on the sofa you slept on, releasing a defeated sigh on impact. For what felt like forever, you were unable to move from that position, stuck in a physical rut almost as deep as the one your mind was stuck in. One might argue that both are, in truth, mental as the body functions by way of the brain, but you couldn’t verify that hypothetical claim. About five to ten minutes later, you were able to maneuver yourself into the more comfortable laid back arrangement that you typically put yourself in to make an attempt at sleep. For at least an hour, there was no sign of that distant shade of gray that told you that the typically warm embrace of unconsciousness was close. Eventually, however, it would arrive as it almost always did. Along with it came the endless stream of pointless trains of thought that seemed to flow in and out of the view of your mind’s eye like water through a strainer. Well… usually they were pointless, anyway. One such thought carried with it the reminder that your Sunday shifts ended earlier than on other days.

For a moment, you almost allowed this one to fade away too, but then the realization hit you before that could happen. With a sudden burst of energy, you practically bounced to your feet. You had to tell Asriel. Your shift ended early tomorrow, but your classes started at the same time, which meant that you would have… about four hours of free time between the two obligations, assuming your math was correct. Hell, you  _ knew _ your math was correct, because you had done it innumerable times before now. After all, this is how it was every Sunday.

You weren’t sure how you had let it slip your mind for so long. Maybe you had been too caught up in your own misery, but wherever the knowledge had gone, it was most certainly back now. Managing to reach your phone, you turn it on as if by second nature. The startup screen seemed to slow each second that passed to an hour as you waited for it to fade into the lock screen, where you would finally have say in the functionality of the device. When your phone managed to get to that point, you would type in your password, uncertain if you had ever entered it that fast in your life without making mistakes.

The next few moments were a blur, but you found yourself in your default messaging app, almost frantically typing out the good news. You reread what you had typed, managing to stop yourself from impulse sending the message before a quick proofread.

“Hye! I konw this is suddne, btu if yuo have tmie tomorow at lunch, I’m free fro a cuople of hours!”

_ Good thing I did that… It’s riddled with typos. _ You think to yourself, swiftly going back through the text and correcting what was wrong with it. You briefly considered adding an emoji or an emoticon, however you decided against it, uncertain as to how he would perceive it. Once you were confident that no mistakes had slipped through the cracks, you found your right thumb once again hovering over the send button, though another conundrum presented itself to you. You checked the time.

_ 10:54 PM. _

While that was par for the course in your book, you realized that you had no idea when Asriel went to bed, nor did you know if he left his phone unmuted, or on at all while he slept. His activity marker read, “idle,” which was likely the least helpful of the three things it could’ve been, because it meant he could either be awake and away from his phone, or he left it on when he went to bed. Either way, it meant his cellular device is on, which combined with the ambiguity, would make sending a text now risky. If he  _ is _ awake and you sent the message, then there wouldn’t be an issue, but if he’s asleep, then you could very well wake him, which you wanted to avoid at all costs given how packed his schedule had been today.

_ But if I don’t send it now, I may not remember tomorrow… _

You weighed your options for the next ten or so minutes, which was when you remembered two things: Thing one was that your messaging app saved drafts of unsent messages. Thing two was that you had a calendar app that could send you notifications for whatever you wanted, given a date and time. You wasted no time creating an event in the app. You set it so that it would remind you a minute after your alarm went off and a couple of minutes before you left for work, just in case you forgot to act on the first reminder.

Knowing that you had done all you reasonably could, you finally felt at ease. All that was left to do at this point was hope that things tomorrow would work out better than they had today and you knew there was nothing that could be done about that, so you were able to let it go rather easily. You turn your phone off again, resting it back down on the nightstand before letting out a sigh as you find yourself on your sofa once again. The sudden sense of relief felt like a tidal wave of exhaustion which wasn’t unwelcome in the slightest. Your brain finally allowed you to feel the effects of the weight your mind had carried all day, not too dissimilar to the end of an adrenaline rush. Perhaps that’s what it was. You knew that things like anxiety and sudden excitement could cause adrenaline to be introduced to the bloodstream unnecessarily, so it wasn’t off the table. You didn’t ponder it though, as whatever the cause was, you were glad, because it would make it leagues easier to sleep. In fact, you barely had time to get yourself into a more comfortable position before you were out cold.

•《○》•

You were in a park. Curling wisps of thick fog slinked around you, leaving your vision heavily impaired. Walking closer to the vague silhouettes of structures you could barely make out through the haze, you came to realize as they entered more clearly into view that you knew them all too well. This wasn’t a park. Well, that’s what you had called it when you used to come here as a kid, but you knew now that it didn’t really fit that definition. It was more of a glorified playground, if anything.

As you wandered further within, a sudden, almost morbid curiosity that was born of nostalgia absorbed your mind. When you moved further toward it, one of the bench swings that you knew was present in the park appeared from the mists, as well as the figure sitting upon it. Whoever it was idly rocked the swing back and forth, doing so in a manner so subtle that you were surprised you had picked up on it through the fog. The closer you got, the clearer their outline became. Eventually you could make out the approximate color of their clothes and the horns that were present on their head. Finally, you saw that they were covered in snow-white fur, which essentially confirmed the theory that had germinated in your consciousness when you made out the horns, which rose up from the top of his head some ways before curling backward.

You were about a yard or two away from him now, with the “him” in question being Asriel. His gaze didn’t waver as you approached. Instead it bore into the ground in front of him as if he hadn’t noticed you. After a few moments of hesitation, you greet him. Or, at least, you thought you did. His head snaps toward you, his inverted eyes locking onto your own. You felt as though you could see an infinite sea of different things within the windows to his soul, and none of them were good. Sadness, depression, indignation, hurt, rage, exasperation, and many others that were far too complex to summarize in single words, if they could even be described by any amount of words at all.

Before he could even speak you felt a tsunami of guilt wash over you, so powerful that it forced you backward a pace or two. When he finally opened his mouth, you couldn’t make out what he said, but you could  _ feel _ it. Pure vocalized emotion is what it sounded like and it cut into your conscience like a knife with a serrated edge. Despite the fact that you heard no distinguishable words, your brain still derived meaning from it. Whatever you said had been the antithesis of that, “right thing to say,“ which you always strived for. You were certain of that at this point.

For what felt like millennia, you were speechless. He continued, the figurative lacerations growing deeper and more numerous the longer he spoke. In contrast with this interaction thus far, it took no time at all for you to convince yourself that you deserved this, whatever it was. You must have done  _ something _ for him to be this distraught, right? Even if you had no idea what that thing was, that didn’t mean you weren’t guilty of it… right…? You couldn’t bear to look at him any longer, so you moved your gaze to the ground instead.

You couldn’t remember when, but at some point, Asriel had stood up. Soon after, you noticed that nearly all of the more volatile emotions that had seethed from his wordless tone had vanished, leaving only what came across as sadness and despair behind… and... was that guilt…? You look up, fueled only by surprise that surpassed your shame in the moment. His expression almost looked apologetic now. You could tell now that he seemed noticeably weaker than he had before you caught his attention, which you knew from your classes wasn’t a good sign, especially if it was happening this quickly.

You start to reach out to him, but it seemed that was also a bad decision, as he flinched away from your hand, taking a few steps back before turning and running. The fog around you appeared to suddenly thicken as Asriel got further away, as if it were trying to swallow him. You began to wonder if following him was a good idea, though this indecision was solved quickly when you remembered that when a monster’s mental state was this bad, damaging their body became exponentially easier. A simple trip on its own could break a bone, but that wasn't what you were worried about. Broken bones could be fixed after all. What distressed you more was how he had run straight toward the river that ran by just outside of the playground’s boundaries. A fall into the river, in his current state, would spell out an all too permanent disaster.

That utterly terrifying knowledge in mind, you followed him. You had no idea what you would say to him when, or rather,  _ if _ you caught up to him. It seemed that whatever you had said thus far, however little it had been, was received poorly. It was then that you stopped in your tracks. What if following him had been the wrong choice? Your presence had been what had caused this outburst in the first place and, so far, had only served to worsen it. Maybe staying away was the answer…?

The longer you thought about it, the thicker the fog around you seemed to get. It got to the point soon enough where you couldn’t see clearly farther than a few feet in front of you. Then, with a gust of wind from the direction of the river, which was now much closer to you, it started to... snow…? As far as you could tell, it wasn’t particularly cold out here, definitely not even close to freezing, so it should be raining, shouldn’t it? It was a couple of moments later when the realization hit you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! If you've read/skimmed to here, thank you! It was suggested to me by FeistyParadox to have someone proofread/beta read, so I asked the one, the only, R0gue_66 to do a proofread for me, to which he obliged (thank you again!!), so hopefully this one is less rough around the edges.  
> Fun fact, the nightmare scene wasn't originally planned to be here, but I thought of it on the spot and liked the idea, so I did it :D  
> Also, I wanted to make this chapter 2.5, but the site didnt like that, so chapter 3 it is.


	4. The Backseat of the Sky

You wake up, nearly jumping out of your skin in the process. What was that…? It felt so real... Could it have really been a dream? Perhaps calling it a nightmare would be more fitting. Judging by where you were, on your sofa, the chances are high that it had indeed been a nightmare. You glance down at your hands for a moment to confirm that you’re actually awake now. Once satisfied, you check the time on your alarm clock, frowning when you realize that only... four hours have passed since you fell asleep. It was technically morning now. Very early in the morning, you realize in despair when your eyes focus on the clock and you become able to see the hour. The time you manage to read is about 3 AM, give or take about ten minutes due to your vision still being a little blurry. You had hoped that it was at least relatively close to your alarm, so you could give up on sleep with minimal collateral damage, but it seemed your brain had had other plans during the night.  
Even now, you could still feel the distantly familiar aura of post-nightmare terror lingering in your mind. You knew it from your childhood when you used to get nightmares almost every other night. It would always haunt your consciousness when you woke until you finally managed to fall back asleep, typically nearby one of your parents. When you thought about it, it has been a long time since you last had a “scary” dream that your brain properly registered as a nightmare. You could barely remember any of the ones you had as a kid now, though you could still remember the fear. It’s the exact same now as it was then.  
That's actually a good example of the brain’s tendency to remember emotions better than the events they come from... maybe I should write that down… You shake your head free of that notion. Your classes wouldn’t be until much later, so you didn’t have to think about that now. Back on topic.  
You aren’t sure when your consciousness had gotten tired of your subconsciousness’s shenanigans, but you know that at some point, it had, and made itself numb to the nightmares that got thrown at it. Along with your sensitivity to the night terrors, said bad dreams themselves also seemed to become subdued, though you weren’t certain if that was actually the case or if it was due to the change of perspective. However, you didn’t spend much time thinking about that. Your curiosity was piqued much more by the notion that that numbness to nightmares had dissipated, if only for a single dream.  
To be fair… I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone die in a… No, that's the first time I’ve ever, technically, seen someone die period. You consider that for a moment, deciding that you would word it a bit differently in order to make it more accurate to yourself. Well… I suppose I technically didn’t see him die, but… what I did see was effectively the monster equivalent of a corpse, so… not much better.  
You shudder at the thought and, for a time, you aren’t able to move again, similar to before you went to sleep. All that your brain would agree to do is play that scene in your mind over and over again in an attempt to decipher meaning from what was often considered one of its most meaningless machinations: dreams. You’re eventually able to pull yourself away from the numerous morbid trains of thought that encircled you, aided by the growing urge to leave your sofa and find a change in scenery, but they still weighed heavy on your mind. You stand up, knowing that the chances that you’d be able to fall asleep again after that were slim to none. Soon enough, you decide to go on a brief walk when you realize that the sub-zero (celsius) temperatures may be a good distraction from the nightmare while simultaneously giving you time to warm up, strangely enough, to the idea of sleep again.  
That decision made, you go to get your jacket off of a nearby table. You put it on in addition to a scarf that you haven’t worn in ages, since you also haven’t gone out for late night walks in about equally as long. The fabric was well worn, a deep shade of navy blue with three thin stripes running parallel to the scarf’s length. Each stripe was a different color, one being a warm gray tint, another being a deep tone of red, and the third being a relatively unmodified, brilliant royal blue. You begin to wonder why you had stopped wearing it, deciding before you came to a proper conclusion that it was unimportant.  
You take a moment to double check and make certain that you didn’t forget anything and/or that there isn’t anything you might want to bring with you just in case. While nothing came to mind that satisfied that first category, you decide to bring a bottle of water with you in case you got thirsty.  
You pause at the door, staring at it for a few moments to give your mind time to prepare for the cold that was about to assault it when you stepped outside, before pushing the handle down. You immediately feel the creeping chill and subsequent bite of the freezing air outside of your apartment when you swing the door open. It surprised you despite the fact that you had expected it, though you remain undeterred and continue, allowing the cold to complete its embrace of you. The first thing you notice is the yellow-orange light being emitted by the streetlight that is closest to your apartment. You’ve seen it countless times before, but never so early that it was the only viable light source. You don’t dwell on it, however, as you meander your way down the sidewalk with ease thanks to the nearly monochromatic glow.  
You have always enjoyed night a lot more than day. Similar to the rain, it was something that’s been constant throughout your life, however the preference of night was a lot mellower than that of a storm. While rain would always excite you, the prospect of night brought with it a sense of calm and heightened focus, which is why you tend to work better in the dark. You had come up with some theories a while back as to why your preferences of environmental state were so opposed to what is considered normal, though you had, and still have, no way to prove them. The top theory at the moment is that thunderstorms and night have decreased visual stimuli and/or replaced said stimuli with less oppressive stimuli, such as the sound of rain hitting your roof or the moon and stars in the night sky in place of the bright sun in your eyes or the saturated colors of the scenery-  
The thought of stars sparks another monologue in you; One of the only redeeming qualities of living around here is that the low population density meant little light polluted the atmosphere. You look up. It’s been a while since you last examined the astral plane that was above you now. Thinking about it returns you back to a simpler time when you looked at the stars and their constellations almost any night you could. In fact, if you recall correctly, that brief period of time had spanned a winter many years ago, which means that the starscape now should be relatively similar… and similar it is. You’re quickly able to make out a familiar piece of sky due north with a slight veer to the west. Cassiopeia is the first constellation you manage to retrace in your mind, it being one of the simpler constellations considering it looks like a lopsided W or maybe even sigma. You also manage to pick out Ursa Minor, Draco, and even Orion much further to the West.  
After some time, you redownload the app you used to use to locate/identify constellations, deciding to go all in on this renewed interest in astronomy. You stand there looking around until you manage to identify every constellation you can see from where you are, suddenly no longer aware of the shiver-inducing cold sinking into your being. By the time you finish, you have begun to genuinely consider saving for a telescope before managing to talk yourself out of it. You are just making it by as it is and if this went like it did the first time around, it would last a month or two before falling off again. Impulse decision based crisis averted, you suppose.  
When you've had your fill of the star speckled sky, you resolve that you distracted yourself long enough from the nightmare for sleep to come more easily now. With that in mind, you decide that you should probably head back home, considering you likely wasted enough time already and would need the hours of remaining sleep you would get at this point. You know that broken sleep isn’t as good as no sleep, but you also know that more sleep is better than less sleep regardless. So, while your overall quality of sleep was already irreparably impaired by now, you would be able to at least salvage it to some extent.  
The walk home was objectively as calm as the walk out had been, except now you felt a lot lighter. This was due to both the lack of the nightmare’s weight on your mind as well as how jittery the cold induced shivers made you feel, which you were well aware of now that you didn’t have a distraction. Luckily, by the time you arrive home, it’s still several hours before sunrise, so you wouldn’t have to battle the oncoming day for your right to sleep. You open the door and allow the wall of artificial heat to collapse in on you once more. You are much more grateful for it now that you had been without it for… You decide to check the time and pull out your phone to do so. The answer you find to your question is 3:47 AM. More time than you had been planning on, but it also meant that you at least had time to double your time asleep, which might help you feel less tired for the coming work day. I’m lucky this happened on a Saturday night.  
With that thought, you reach the countertop and turn your phone off for the night. You then plug it in to charge before heading back to your sofa, sitting down. You once again find yourself almost stuck in place upon making contact with the cushion, unable to shift into a more sleep-ready position for the next five or ten minutes. You lay down when you regain proper control of your voluntary muscles, letting out a sigh of relief in response to the fact that that whole ordeal was behind you now, or at least, it felt like it was. Sooner rather than later, strangely enough, the hazy twilight of sleep began to overtake your senses and wash over you.

•《○》•

  
That segment of what would be your night’s sleep would contain much more pleasant and/or mundane dreams. You knew this because you barely remembered anything about them when you woke up to your alarm the next morning which, in of itself, served as a marker that nothing particularly disturbing happened during the night. However, as you get up from your couch, you find yourself unable to shake the feeling that you’ve forgotten something... something important. You go about your morning routine as normal, minus that sneaking suspicion that your memory had slipped on you. Eventually, your preparation pattern brings you to your phone, which you disconnect from its charger as you turn it on. It’s when the startup screen’s animation ends and programs that run in the background begin their own startup sequences that a calendar notification pops up in your notifications. You don’t even have to read it before it triggers a memory from the previous night. No, it wasn’t from when your nightmare had startled you from your slumber, but before you had gone to sleep at all.  
The text! You thought to yourself immediately, more enthusiastically than you ever thought you would be about an instant message, let alone one you would send. You then open up your phone’s default messaging app, tapping on one of your few active dms- the one with Asriel. Your text draft that you wrote last night is still sitting in the text box, typo free as you left it. You experience only a brief moment of hesitation before you look at his status indicator. It was green, which meant he was online, so you wasted not another second before you tapped send and allowed the text your previously composed message to go through. You wanted to sit there and wait for a response, but the next thing on your screen that your eyes wandered to was the digital clock in the top right corner. It was time to leave. So, reluctantly, you put your phone into your sweatshirt pocket and head out the door, anticipation clawing at your heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know it's been a while, but here I am with another short-ish chapter (next one should have more content tho 👀).  
> Around the time I uploaded the last chapter, my classes swapped around as I entered a new semester, so things were a bit hectic and I didn't have much time to write.  
> Additionally, I will admit I was forcing myself to write a tad bit and it burnt me [out]. I should be back now, but expect updates to take a bit longer as I want to shift my "schedule" toward only writing when Im inspired to as to avoid future burnout :D  
> (I've become a mod on a roleplay server too, so I may have to focus my attention there a bit more. Though some of, if not my longest things I've written have come from there, so maybe I'll post those as one offs in between chapters if you guys want it :).)  
> Also, if there are some grammatical errors, I do apologize, but I didn't run this one by R0gue beforehand, as I wanted to sort of use it as an announcement post considering how short and expositional it is compared to prior releases.


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